


Powerless

by CartoonAddict564



Category: DC Super Hero Girls (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, No-powers battle, Romance, Yuletide, Yuletide 2016, Yuletide Treat, sparring match
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 20:17:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9013708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CartoonAddict564/pseuds/CartoonAddict564
Summary: Barbara Gordon, better known as Batgirl, has fought hard to prove herself at Super Hero High, but the stigma of being a hero with no innate powers still dogs her. Many simply won't trust a hero that can be rendered 'powerless' by losing or forgetting her utility belt. To help overcome this stigma, Principal Waller arranges for her to face Kara "Supergirl" Zor-El in a one-on-one match without her belt, gadgets, or any other tools, to show that she--and by extension, other 'powerless' individuals--can be just as heroic and strong as their powered companions. It will be the hardest fight Barbara's ever had, but if she can pull off a win, Barbara knows she'll finally establish herself and other non-powered heroes at Super Hero High... and she just might open up a new relationship with Kara while she's at it.





	1. Left behind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [milleniumrex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/milleniumrex/gifts).



> Hello! This is my first Yuletide and one of my first Yuletide Treats ever, so I hope I'm doing it right. :-) The prompt included friendship, fluff, and PG-rated femslash, and I think I delivered on those fronts. Hope you all enjoy!

Barbara Gordon slowly pushed her chair away from her desk and stood, allowing herself a soft sigh which faded away in the dark and quiet dorm room. It was late, though she didn't know how late--she'd stopped looking at her clock at around 3 AM--but now the upgrades to Oracle and the rest of her gear were finally done and she could, at last, sleep for a few hours before morning calisthenics. She stretched, wincing as her joints popped with stiffness, and then slowly began to move towards her bed. Her hand brushed over her batarangs and a few other pieces of gear as she stepped away from her desk, and she thought for a moment of other possible modifications she could make, but then she pushed those ideas away and instead just imagined how good it would feel to snuggle under the covers at last.

Which, of course, was when the Save The Day alarm went off.

Barbara jumped as the klaxon blasted through the dorm room, tripped over her own feet, and almost crashed down on top of her desk--but her roommate Kara "Supergirl" Zor-El was already out of bed at the first peel of the alarm and managed to catch her with her super-speed. "Careful!" said Kara, eyes twinkling as she set Barbara back on her feet. "Don't want to hurt yourself before the mission even starts, right?"

"Course not. Thanks." Barbara managed a smile at Kara, though it was soon cut off by a huge yawn. She managed to shut her mouth as she groped for her utility belt and costume, but it took a few more moments of struggling before she was able to get it on. "Stupid belt..."

"Are you okay?" Kara had already gotten changed into her outfit and was waiting by the door. "You look out of it."

"I'm fine. Just tired." Barbara yawned again before running towards the door and passing Kara. "But don't worry. Punching bad guys always wakes me up. Better hurry or there won't be any left for you!"

She heard Kara laugh behind her as she raced into the hallway and then out the front door of the dormitory. The rush of action and the breeze blowing in her face helped chase away some of her exhaustion, and by the time she caught up with a few of the other students on the lawn she felt almost normal. "What's going on?" she asked the crowd at large. "What happened?"

Diana of Themyscira, better known as Wonder Woman, pointed up in the air. It was hard to see in the moonless night, but Barbara quickly made out the dark shape that was slowly dropping towards them and growing steadily larger. "The school's sensors picked up an unidentified aircraft approaching the lawn. The school wants us to make sure it's not hostile."

"So..." Barbara looked around, but Kara had stopped behind her and nobody else seemed eager to engage the ship. "Why aren't we?"

Diana rolled her eyes and gestured behind her, where Cheetah was in the process of throwing up her hands. "I don't care what you say! It's my turn to fight the bad guy!"

"You had your turn last week!" protested Star Sapphire, arms crossed. "It's not our fault you decided to go to the salon instead!"

"I can't be expected to fight crime with chipped nails, can I?" growled Cheetah. "Besides. Your turn was two days ago and you were off in Paris--"

"Shopping is a legitimate super-hero activity! Somebody has to support the small boutiques! I am single-handedly employing hundreds of artisans who would otherwise be out in the cold!"

Before either could continue, Harley Quinn jumped between them. "I know how to settle this!" she yelled. "We'll say it's my turn!" She hefted her mallet towards the descending ship. "I'll pound them so hard they'll be smushed into their keisters!"

"You just took your turn," snapped Cheetah. "You fought Chesire with Lady Shiva."

"Yeah, but she did all the fighting! All I got to do was crack jokes!"

A vein bulged on Lady Shiva's forehead. "Oh, like it's my fault you were totally useless on that mission?"

Barbara rolled her eyes and turned back to Diana and Kara, both of whom were looking similarly annoyed. "I'd just go, but school policy is we need at least three students to take on a ship of that size so that, if one gets injured, a second can carry them out while the third covers them," said Diana. "And everyone else in the class all too busy arguing to come with."

"Three?" Barbara's eyes twinkled as she looked between Diana and Kara. "I think we can swing that. C'mon, girls. Let's show them how it's done!" She thrust one hand down to her batraang pouch while the other went for her jetpack controls. "Let's stop that ship before it lands!"

Kara grinned at her and then jumped into the air as she flew right for the ship. Diana let out a loud whoop, drawing the gaze of everyone around, as she followed. Then Barbara grabbed for a batarang to throw at the ship and thus provide a rope for her to climb--

Only to feel nothing but empty air in her pouch.

Then her mind caught up with her. She had grabbed her utility belt... but everything that was supposed to be in the belt was still strewn over her desk where she'd left it during her upgrading session. And when she groped for her jetpack, she realized she hadn't remembered to take that either. In her exhausted state, it had slipped her mind.

"Oh no," she murmured as she began to dig through her belt, hoping against hope that something useful was there. "My gadgets! I need my--"

Then she felt a pressure on her shoulders and looked up just in time to see Cheetah jumping onto her back and then springing towards the ship, using her catlike-agility to make the leap and hook onto it with her claws. "Better luck next time, nonnie!" she called down as she began climbing towards the spot of the ship's hull that was collapsing under the duel onslaughts of Diana's punches and Kara's heat vision. "See you later!"

"Hey!" protested Barbara, but before she could do anything Harley was jumping onto her shoulders and vaulting towards the ship as well, and then there was a cavalcade of students rushing for it. Minutes later, when the dust cleared, Barbara found herself alone.

She let out a soft sight as the sounds of combat from within the ship drifted to her ears. Then she sank down onto the grass, managed one more tired yawn, and watched as the ship began to list to one side and drop faster.

"Yeah, Barbara," she muttered. "Really showing them how it's done."


	2. Challenge accepted

"Commander Flag, the next time you want to land a dropship on my lawn, call ahead and get clearance!" 

"Well, how am I supposed to deliver your surprise Christmas gift if I call ahead to let you know it's coming!" The military commander scowled and slammed a fist into the dropship, which was now sticking out of the ground at a forty-five degree angle and which had been completely disabled by the superheroes who had attacked it. His men were crawling out of it, and a few were gamely unloading a gigantic wrapped box with a bright red ribbon on top. "That defeats the whole point!"

Waller, with her nightgown and hair in wild disarray, rolled her eyes. "Have you ever heard of mailing a gift card, Rick?" 

"Maybe we wanted to get you a present that required a little thought! And another thing..."

Barbara tuned the bickering pair out and watched her other classmates as they milled around. "So it wasn't hostile?" she asked Kara, who had drifted over to her. "It was just some guy in the military sending Principal Waller a present?"

"Looks that way." Kara giggled. "Maybe I shouldn't have heat-visioned the engines."

"Hey, you didn't know." Barbara clapped Kara on the back and then yawned again. The adrenaline had left her and the thought of falling asleep on the cool grass was increasingly tempting. "Good job making sure it wasn't dangerous." Her smile faded. "You were a lot more help than I was, that's for sure."

"Don't say that," urged Kara. "You just had a bad day. We've all forgotten stuff--"

A harsh laugh interrupted the two, and Barbara turned to see Cheetah leaping out of the wreckage of the ship. "Yeah, but most of us are still useful even if we forget stuff. We have, like, actual powers. Not just little gadgets." She sauntered up to Barbara and flicked her nose as she passed the other girl. "When are you going to wake up, Gordon? Real heroes have powers. You're not a real hero."

"I am too!" snapped Barbara at the same moment that Kara yelled, "She is too!" Barbara shot a quick smile at Kara, then continued. "I can fight--"

"No, you have machines that can fight for you. Without your toys you're just a plain 'ol non-powered girl, nonnie." Cheetah flicked her hair as she began to walk away. "Face it. You might be useful as a lab tech, but in the field, the people need heroes that don't become useless if they lose their trinkets. They need heroes like us. Real heroes. Not you."

Barbara felt her face reddening, and even though she knew exhaustion was making her act rashly, she couldn't stop herself from snapping, "Please. I don't need my gadgets to be a hero."

"Oh yeah?" Cheetah turned and looked at Barbara over her shoulder. "Name one thing you can do without your toys that's legitimately heroic."

"Um, Barbara--" began Kara.

Barbara waved her off. "Anything you can do," she shot back. "Any test, any challenge, any fight. I can do it better than you--without my stuff."

"Alright then. It's a match."

Barbara stiffened and then spun on her heel to see Principal Waller, who had walked up behind her. Waller's gaze flicked between her and Cheetah before she spoke again. "All that remains is to determine the exact challenge the two of you will perform."

"Wait. What?" Barbara blinked. "Huh?"

"That's easy. We'll spar against each other!" said Cheetah. "I'll clean her clock and--"

Waller shook her head, cutting Cheetah off. "That wouldn't be a very good challenge, Cheetah. After all, your physical combat skills are near the bottom of the class. Defeating you wouldn't really prove anything, would it?"

Cheetah flushed red, and both Barbara and Kara giggled. Behind them, Diana and Harley had come up to see what was going on, but neither said anything as Waller went on. "However, I agree that a sparring match would prove a definitive way to settle this," the principal said. "So... Kara. Would you be willing to be their opponent?"

"Me?" asked Kara before Barbara could react. "But I--"

"Have the highest physical combat scores in the class, and so would make an excellent standard of comparison," continued Waller. "You'll spar with Cheetah and Barbara in the arena four days from now, and none of you will have gadgets or any other sort of technological aids. Whichever of them defeats you more quickly--or lasts the longest against you, if neither beats you--will be considered the winner and will be recognized as such." Waller's implacable gaze scanned over the girls. "Is that acceptable to all?"

Barbara tried to wring a response out of her tired mind, but Cheetah just snorted. "Sure. I'll do way better against Supergirl than Babs over here." She spun on her heel and stalked away. "See you all later."

"I don't understand," Barbara managed after a few moments. "Principal Waller, you told me when I enrolled that you believed I could do this. That even students without powers can still be heroes. That--"

"I still believe that," said Waller quietly. "And I think Super Hero High must be willing to accept the students who wish to push themselves to serve others and fight evil, whether or not they have powers." She took a breath. "But if I simply decree that, Miss Gordon, do you think Cheetah or her friends will listen?"

Barbara hesitated and then looked around. The students around them were pretending not to eavesdrop, but most had clearly heard... and several dropped their eyes when she looked at them. Like they were ashamed of what they were thinking.

Like they agreed with Cheetah and just didn't want to say it.

"Principal Waller, wait," interjected Diana. "Many of us know that Barbara is just as qualified to be here as anybody else. We've seen how hard she trains and how good she is in a fight. When Granny Goodness attacked--"

"I know," said Waller. "And as I said, I agree with you. But I'm afraid many of your classmates, as well as a substantial fraction of our school board, do not. The admission of Miss Gordon was a... controversial event, and one that has aroused substantial concern, both for the safety of Miss Gordon herself and for that of any other heroes put on the same team as her. I receive daily letters warning me that I am putting heroes at risk by giving them a partner who could be rendered 'powerless' if her gadgets failed or were stolen." She was silent for a moment. "For the sake of, not only Miss Gordon, but also all other students who wish to be heroes but are discouraged for lack of powers, it is important that we demonstrate proof that such students are just as capable of succeeding here as any others--gadgets or no."

Barbara sighed. She'd heard such arguments before, though she hadn't known they'd reached Waller. She hadn't acted on them because she had figured it wasn't her problem if some idiots hadn't thought she could be a real hero. But Waller had a point--she could really help other 'powerless' students if she proved someone without powers could beat a powered superhero in a contest. "Fine," she said. "I'll do it."

Kara hesitated. "Not that I'm opposed to Barbara proving herself," she ventured. "But given my, um, powers..."

"What she means is," Harley interjected from behind Barbara (causing the other girl to jump in shock), "It won't be a good test if Supergirl wins both fights in half a second!"

Barbara rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the morale booster, Harley."

Waller smiled slightly. "I have the utmost confidence that Miss Gordon, at least, can do better than that." She turned to go, then hesitated. "Kara. I can count on you not to favor either opponent?"

Kara looked conflicted, but she slowly nodded her head. "Of course. I'll try my hardest in both matches."

"Excellent. Then I look forward to seeing both of you in four days." Waller smiled at them and left.

Barbara watched her go, then turned to Kara, Diana, and Harley. "Well," she said, managing a faint smile. "Guess I'd better get training, huh?"

"We'll help," said Diana at once as Kara and Harley nodded in unison. "I mean, we all know you're better than Cheetah anyways, but we'll still help you train." 

"Thanks, girls," said Barbara. "So I guess first I'll start with calisthenics, then sparring, then..."

She wobbled, and would have fallen if Harley, Diana, and Kara hadn't rushed to catch her.

"Maybe first a nap," she said with a weak smile, and the others chuckled and laughed as they helped get her back inside.


	3. Losing battle

"Waaagh!"

Barbara tensed and braced for impact as she hurtled towards the floor, but then she felt strong, soft hands gripping her waist and her ascent abruptly slowed. She had just enough time to realize that Diana had caught her before the Amazonian had lowered her safely to the ground of the sparring room. Kara was hovering in front of them, clothes and hair looking pristine more than an hour into the training session, and Harley was standing on Kara's other side where she could catch Barbara if she were flung in that direction. "Thanks, Diana," she said as the other girl set her down. "That was a close one."

Kara gave her a warm smile and dropped to the ground. "Are you ready to go again?" she asked, stretching lightly. "We can take five if you want."

"Nah, I don't need five. Just give me thirty seconds and I'm good to go." Barbara considered for a moment and then waved at Harley, who fired off a quick salute and tossed her a bottle of water. Barbara chugged it before throwing the empty bottle into a trash can near the door, then wiped her mouth and took a deep breath to prepare for what came next. "Alright. Here I come, Kara!" 

She charged forwards, rushing as quickly as she could, but she'd barely taken two steps before Kara seemed to blur and then flashed towards her. The Kryptonian's super-speed let her zip to Barbara's side almost before Barbara knew what was happening. Then she felt the other girl grabbing at her waist and abruptly thrust herself to one side as she tried to twist out of Kara's grasp, hoping the Kryptonian's momentum would carry her away before she could catch herself. And this time, for the first time, Kara did slip a step behind Barbara, who began to turn--

Kara's eyes lit up and her heat vision blasted into the ground, forcing Barbara to hop back involuntarily. She had barely regained her balance before Kara grabbed her and pinned her on the ground. "Got you again," said Kara before standing up and helping Barbara to her feet. "I think this makes..."

"Eighty-three matches to Kara, and a big goose egg for Barbara!" chirped Harley with her usual wild glee. "Gonna hafta pick up the pace or you'll never catch up, Babs!"

"It's not about the numbers," said Barbara, unable to hide her perfunctory tone as she wiped a sheen of sweat off her forehead. She was starting to get tired again but she knew she couldn't stop; her actual match against Kara was only two days away. "I've only got to win the one."

Kara sighed. "Barbara, are you sure you really want to do this? I can go to Waller, say I don't feel comfortable with the match."

Barbara was silent for a moment before shrugging. "I'm not loving it either, but I'm not going to back out. Don't worry about me."

"But..." A pained expression crossed Kara's face. "This is just..."

"What?" teased Harley. "Scared you might lose, Kara?"

"No!" Kara snapped. "But this isn't fair to Barbara, and it's ridiculous she has to do it!"

The other three girls all looked at her for a moment before Diana ventured, "We know it's a tough challenge, but if it really shows how Barbara can--"

"That's just it! It doesn't 'really' show anything!" Kara looked at Barbara with a genuinely pained expression before turning back to the others. "We already know she's a great hero! Set aside that she's got top marks in almost every subject, she's saved the school and the rest of us how many times now? It's ridiculous that because of a few jerks like Cheetah and some 'concerned people' who think she can't protect us in the field that she has to go through this!" She scowled. "I trust her to protect me in the field! Everyone who knows how good she is does!"

Barbara hesitated. "Kara..."

Diana cut her off. "But all those fights she had her gadgets to help her. This is supposed to test if she can fight without them--"

"But she doesn't fight without them!" yelled Kara. "They're a part of her! If I don't have to do this fight wearing a kryptonite necklace to take away my powers, why should she have to do it without the tools that lets her do superhero stuff? Why--"

"Kara!" called Barbara. The Kryptonian cut off and looked at the other girl, who smiled gently at her. "I'm okay. Really."

Kara looked at her for a long moment before turning away. "Sorry. It's just... you've done such amazing things, and even though you don't have innate powers you're still one of the best heroes here, and it's just not fair that you have to go out there and get totally humiliated. You are better than you're going to look in our match."

Barbara hesitated for a moment, then approached Kara. "Is how I look really that important to you?"

Kara blushed. "You're... inspiring," she said at last. "When I came I had lots of powers but I was still practically scared of my own shadow... until I saw how you weren't scared of anything. You wanted to be a hero, and even though you didn't have any powers you built all kinds of tools to make you strong and fast and tough, and you didn't let anything stop you--"

"I was scared plenty," murmured Barbara. Kara jumped, but before she could fly away Barbara took her hand, and the other girl blushed and stayed where she was. "And half the time I was just trying to catch up to you and all the awesome things you could do." 

Kara blinked. "Really?"

"Course. I built the jetpack 'cause I saw you fly once and decided, yeah, I wanted to do that." Barbara managed a soft smile. "It was really cool." 

The two looked at each for a long moment, but just as Barbara began to feel uncomfortable, Harley made loud kissy noises and the two girls immediately swiveled to her with annoyed expressions. "Get a room you two!" called Harley. "Stop gettin' all smoochy!"

"We're not getting smoochy," insisted Kara as Barbara giggled. "But... well, what do you think? About this whole powerless-fighting thing."

Diana was silent for a moment. "Well, in principle it makes sense to me. When I was on Themyscira, I did training where I wore weights that made me too heavy to fly, or where I wasn't allowed to use my shield. I got stronger from that training, so it might be good for Barbara too."

"But then why aren't we all doing it?" asked Kara. "Shouldn't I be wearing a kryptonite necklace or something else that takes away my powers for this match?"

"You aren't the one showing off what she can do, "said Diana. "She is. And maybe sometime later you'll have to train with that kryptonite necklace you mentioned."

"Yeah. Then the next time someone like Big Barda throws a glowy green rock at you, you might still be able to fight them instead of just fallin' over an' givin' up!" added Harley.

Kara blushed, and Barbara stepped closer to her as Diana continued. "If it was some other student with no powers, I might feel differently about setting them up to lose against Kara, but we all know Barbara's good enough that she could make use of this training. So I'm in favor of it."

Kara and Barbara turned to Harley, who shrugged. "You all get so obsessed with winning and losing," she groused. "Is it really such a disaster to lose? I lose fights all the time, but it's no big deal."

"Yeah, but you're... quirky," said Kara. "A lot of people care if they lose a fight, especially in public."

"Those people gotta chillax!" Harley grinned at Barbara, who couldn't help laughing back at her. "See? She knows what I'm talkin' about. What's the worst that can happen, she loses to Supergirl? Everyone loses to Supergirl! It's no problem! Way I see it is, this is just somethin' fun and different, and it's not like Babs is any random powerless student--she's tough enough it won't be a total wipeout--so why not?"

Everyone looked at Barbara, who was silent for a long moment. "Look, I didn't want to do this either at first," she said at last. "And sure, I was thinking about telling Waller this was a bad idea. But now... no. I'm not going to back out. I can't."

"No," said Kara at once. "You don't. I'll get Waller--"

"Not because of her." Barbara shook her head. "Look, I know this is unfair that I'm the only one that has to do this. But being a hero means sometimes we have to deal with unfair things so other people don't. Waller said that other kids like me, who really want to be heroes, are being prevented because they don't have powers and nobody thinks they can do it." She looked at Diana and Harley. "And you both just said you don't think another student without powers would have a chance."

Diana hesitated. "But... Barbara, that doesn't apply to you. I mean, you're incredible. We all know that."

Barbara smiled slightly. "I'm incredible because someone saw that I could do it and encouraged me to try." She glanced at Kara, who blushed again. "Now someone needs to show the next group of me's out there that they can do it even if they don't have powers, and that someone's gonna be me. So yes, it's good training, and no, I don't really care if I lose a sparring match, but this is more than that. I want to show everyone that somebody without powers can take on somebody that has them and win." She smiled faintly. "I don't know for sure if I can pull it off, but now I understand how important this is. And I have to try."

She looked up at all the others, stopping with Kara, whom she looked at for several seconds with a faint smile on her lips. "But I'll need your help," she said at last. "Kara, I need to keep sparring with you, and Diana and Harley, if you can keep making sure I don't get flattened, that'd be great. Oh, and Kara, in our match--I need you to go all out. No holding back, nothing that'll let anyone argue that you let me win and so it doesn't count. I'll fight my hardest and I need you to do the same. Can you do that?"

Kara nodded. "I can, but... you're sure you know what you're doing? I mean, I did just beat you eighty-three times. I don't really get what this training is even for."

'Learning your tells,' Barbara thought but didn't say. Instead, she just smiled. "Hey, I can't tell you all my secrets. Just trust me when I say I have a plan. Now." She dropped into a combat crouch. "Ready for my eighty-fourth try?"

Diana and Harley moved into position, Kara flew into the air, and then Barbara launched herself at her Kryptonian roommate yet again.


	4. All-out fight

"...and today we have a special treat for all of you!" called Principal Waller to the gathered students, staff, board members, and press. "One of our strongest freshmen, Supergirl, will be engaging in sparring matches against two of our other students, Cheetah and Batgirl! As a special restriction, none of them will be allowed to use any gear or equipment during these matches--they will have to rely on their own strength, speed, and of course any special powers they possess." She waved an arm towards the arena. "Let's have a big hand for Supergirl, as well as for Cheetah, who is up first!"

Barbara clapped mechanically as Cheetah jumped out of her chair, flicked her hair derisively in her direction, and then rushed into the arena. It was a large enclosed space built in the Themyscira style, with an open central court blocked off from smaller wings by polished columns and pillars that stretched up to the ceiling. Cheetah wove through the columns and then grinned at Kara. "Let's get this over with," she called. "I've got a manicure I'm late for."

Kara frowned at her and muttered something Barbara couldn't hear, but then Waller was calling for the two contestants to get ready. "Alright," she muttered to herself. "Here we go."

"Hey." She turned to see Diana smiling at her. "I just wanted to say, what you're doing is so incredibly brave. Good luck--"

"Yeah!" yelled Harley from Barbara's other side, startling Barbara so badly that she almost fell out of her chair. "You go Battie!"

"Uh, thanks." Barbara managed a smile at them. "Really appreciate it--and all the help you two were during the last four days of training. I owe you one."

Harley's face lit up. "Ooh, really? Cause I need a prankin' partner for next week when that Wayne guy's in town and--"

"And I'd love to talk with you about it, later, but for now..." Barbara tilted her head towards the arena. "I gotta focus on this match."

Cheetah lasted for a lot longer than Barbara would have expected, using her own super-speed and cat-like agility to move around, between, and up the columns quickly enough to dodge Kara's blows. However, she couldn't land any attacks of her own either, and when she was a hair slow pulling back from one, Supergirl was able to grab her and slam her into the ground hard enough to stun her. Barbara winced, but she knew there was no backing out now--and she wouldn't have even if she could have--so she forced herself to get up and approach the field even as Cheetah was helped off of it. "Good luck!" called Diana. "We're rooting for you!"

"Yeah! GO BATTIE!" screamed Harley. "You can do it!"

Barbara shot one final smile at them before entering the field and taking a deep breath. Kara gave her a quick nod and a soft smile before jumping into the air and hovering several feet off the ground, and Barbara almost grabbed for a batarang before reminding herself that in this match she wasn't allowed to use any of her tools and so hadn't brought them. Instead, she just met Kara's eyes and nodded in return. "Whenever you're ready, Supergirl!"

Nothing happened for a moment more--and then the fight began.

Kara seemed to blur as she zipped towards Barbara, her super-speed enabling her to fly far faster than Barbara could run and almost faster than she could see. But she'd spent the last four days and approximately four hundred sparring matches watching Kara charge at her, and she had learned to read every tell the Kryptonian had. Kara had drifted slightly to the right--that meant she would attack on Barbara's right side. Kara's hands were open, not closed--that meant she was going to try to grab and flip her, instead of tackling her (which Kara closed her hands for) or sweeping her legs out from under her. Kara's gaze was squarely on Barbara's right hip--that was where she'd be grabbing her for the flip. And so on.

Kara was faster than Barbara, and stronger, and had better reflexes. But Barbara was willing to bet that between the two of them, she was the better analyst. And she'd make one further bet--that Kara wasn't used to having to change her moves halfway through because her opponent had guessed them. 

When Kara reached Barbara, Barbara was already twisting away, and Kara couldn't stop her from dodging out of her closing grasp. Barbara grinned as she rushed towards the nearest column as fast as she could. "Hah!" she called as Kara wheeled around behind her. "Hey, Supergirl, want to try again?"

Kara frowned and rushed at Barbara twice more, but Barbara slipped away both times, keeping an eye on the polished columns to watch behind her and read Kara's next moves. She was already breathing hard--Kara was so fast that Barbara was pushed to her limits, even predicting all her moves--and sweat was starting to sting her eyes, but she blinked them clear and moved into the next step of her plan. Kara was bunching up her fists and preparing for a charge, so Barbara dashed flat out towards a column before the blow landed. Kara came at her low, Barbara jumped at just the right moment, and Kara crashed through the column behind her as Barbara dropped back to the ground.

Then the column began to collapse on top of the combatants. Barbara hurled herself to one side to dodge the rubble, but Kara just used her super-durability to shrug off the blows of the falling stone, then grabbed Barbara while the human was still trying to avoid the debris. Barbara began to wriggle as if she was about to slip away again, then yelped as the world tilted under her. Kara, she realized, wasn't going to just pin her and possibly give her an opening to escape. Instead she was going to throw Barbara...

Exactly as Barbara had planned.

She'd been sparring with Supergirl for four days straight, after all. If she'd learned one thing, it was how to deal with being hurled across the room at high speeds. As Kara threw her towards the nearest column she oriented herself in the air, dropping her legs behind her and crouching to help her absorb the impact as she'd practiced. She still hit the column and felt a blast of pain flood through her body, but she was able to drop to the ground and start running again without breaking anything. 

Kara kept chasing her down but Barbara dodged her several more times, leading Kara into crashing through two more columns in the process. Then Kara caught her again and flung her harder, and this time Barbara felt woozy when she slammed into the next pillar, but she forced herself to get up and keep running. She still hadn't beaten Cheetah's time and she had to at the very least outlast her if this was going to mean anything. "Can't catch me!" she called to Kara as she began to run away again. "I'm uncatchable!"

In retrospect, she thought, she should maybe have taken that Witty Banter elective Harley had been raving about. 

Kara growled something inarticulate, and Barbara only had a second to see the Kryptonian's teeth clench and eyes flare, but those were all the clues she needed to know that Kara was going to use heat vision next. So she leapt behind a column, forcing Kara to cut through it if she wanted to see her target--and then when the laser-like heat did cut through the column (and slightly burned Barbara's hair), Barbara leapt back to avoid the rubble and then used the dust cloud and falling debris as cover to get to the next one. 

A few columns later, though, Barbara stepped on a piece of rubble at a bad angle and yelped as something in her ankle twisted. She stumbled, and before she could recover she felt strong hands wrapping around her waist. Wind blasted through her hair but the hands didn't release, and she suddenly realized that Kara wasn't going to throw her. Instead she was going to haul Barbara up towards the ceiling and then smack her into the ground hard enough to stun her.

This was a move Kara hadn't used in practice, but that didn't mean Barbara hadn't considered how to respond to it. Her arms were tightly pinned but she could still move her neck and waist, so she twisted as best she could and then bit into her own arm just above where Kara was gripping it. A thin stream of blood burst free, forced out by how tightly Kara was squeezing her arm, and slid under Kara's fingers...which loosened the Kryptonian's grip just enough for Barbara to tear her arm free.

And lift up that arm so she could cover Kara's eyes.

The Kryptonian yelped and pulled up just before hitting the ground, but she couldn't stop from slamming herself through the next column. Barbara used Kara's body as a shield as they smashed through the stone pillar and fell to the ground, then broke away as soon as her opponent's grip slackened enough. "Had enough?" she asked as she got to her feet, trying to ignore how woozy she felt from all the times Kara had thrown her around in the past few minutes. "Ready to give up?"

"No way." Kara pushed herself up and brushed a few chunks of stone from her hair. "I have super-durability, remember? No matter how many columns you knock me into, I'm not going to--"

A creaking sound came from overhead, and Kara looked up just in time to see the ceiling start to crumble. Barbara dove at her legs, but before Kara could do anything a chunk of plaster from the ceiling smacked into her and knocked her on top of the other girl. The rest of the ceiling then followed.

Smoke and rubble filled the auditorium, and for a few moments the arena was completely cut off to the audience. But after almost a full minute the air began to clear and revealed that the arena floor was now covered by the collapsed ceiling. Nobody was visible on the field. The crowd murmured, and then Diana rose. "Are they alright?" she asked. "We should help--"

Some of the rubble shifted, and then Supergirl pushed her way out of it. She looked exhausted, and stumbled as she rose to her feet, but she was able to stand. "I'm okay!" she called, brushing dust out of her eyes and then gingerly touching a bruise on her head--the heavy, reinforced ceiling had managed to hurt her even when nothing else did. "But we need to get some people in here to search for Barbara, I'm worried--"

Barbara climbed out of the rubble in the exact same spot where Kara had been. "I'm okay too!" she chirped, almost skipping down the pile of rubble as if to show off how strong she still was. "And of course I remembered you had super-durability. That's why, after I got you to collapse the ceiling, I knocked you on top of me so you could deflect all the rubble!" She smiled and approached Kara. "Still want to keep going?"

Kara looked at her blankly and took one step forwards, but then Barbara pushed her lightly and Supergirl collapsed into a heap on the ground as her legs gave out. "I give up," she said at last. "You win, Barbara."

It took a moment for the crowd to understand--but when they did, the cheers and shouters were among the loudest in Super Hero High's history.


	5. Batgirl triumphant

"I'm sorry I hurt you!" said Barbara in the infirmary, standing over Kara's bed. "I couldn't think of another way to win and--"

"It's fine. Super-durable, remember? The doctor says I'll be out of here in a couple days, about the same time your ankle heals." Kara touched her sore head again, then smiled at Barbara. "And that was an awesome match, Barbara. You're incredible."

Barbara blushed. "Just... it was just simple analysis," she said. "Reading moves and stuff. I could teach you, if you'd like."

Kara quickly nodded, and her smile grew. "Yeah. I'd like that."

Barbara let her hand drop near Kara, and moments later Kara took it. Both girls reddened but neither moved to break away. "Um," said Barbara at last. "Uh, Kara--"

"Hey girlsies!" Both superheroines swiveled as Harley Quinn jumped into the infirmary, followed a few moments later by the more sedate Diana. Barbara quickly pulled her hand free and hoped fervently Harley hadn't noticed. "How y'all doin'?" the clown continued. "Gettin' over your bumps and bruises?"

"Working on it." Barbara chuckled and pulled up one of her sleeves to show off a nasty bruise from the match. "What's up?"

"Waller just announced what you get for beating Cheetah in your little competish!" Harley giggled. "You know how we're sending a student ambassador to the Justice League next month? Well, now you're the ambassador--and Cheetah's your assistant! She's gotta fetch you coffee, and iron your clothes, and make sure all your notes are in order... it'll be a scream!"

Barbara laughed at the image. "Awesome. Any other news?"

"Yes." Diana stepped forwards and was clearly struggling to contain a giant grin. "I just talked to Principal Waller. Applications from students without powers have skyrocketed, and a lot of them look like they'd make really great heroes. Some have even begun helping out in their own communities. They just hadn't applied here because... you know, no powers... but now that you've shown what somebody without powers can do, they're coming forwards."

Barbara felt a warm glow spread over her face, and when she glanced in a mirror she saw she was grinning. "Awesome," she said. "That's... that's exactly what I wanted." She hesitated, then turned back to Kara. "Thanks. For being willing to go all out, even though you had all your powers and I didn't have any. For trusting I could keep up with you despite that. I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Kara slowly nodded. "And thanks for not getting upset when I said you were going to be humiliated by this match. And for showing me I still might have some improvement to do of my own."

"Well, like I said. I'll be happy to teach you. But next time we spar..." Barbara's eyes glittered. "I think I might bring some gear. Just a head's up."

"Sure--"

Harley slid behind Barbara and shoved her so she almost fell on top of Kara. "Oh, just kiss already, you two!" 

Barbara blushed a bright red, as did Kara, but neither girl looked away--and after a moment, Barbara realized she was lowering her head further. Then her head was on Kara's and their lips touched for a moment before she pulled away. "Um," she said at last. "I, uh..."

Then she realized Harley was cheering, loud enough that a nurse was shushing her, and Diana was chuckling as well. "We'll leave you two be," the Amazonian said. "See you later!"

She left, dragging Harley with her, and Barbara exchanged another long glance with Kara. Then she kissed the Kryptonian again wrapping her into a tight hug even as the other girl did the same to her, and let the last remnants of her exhaustion drift away under a tidal wave of bliss.


End file.
